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Getting back into saltwater

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It been 25 years or more but I'm getting back into a salt water tank. After reading here and else where I have decided on a reef tank. My son bought himself a 38 gallon tank and stand a couple of days ago and we have it running with my two filters, plants, substrate, slate, driftwood, and fish. I now have an empty 55 gallon tank. Boy does it look sad.

Today I bought a large pail of Instant ocean reef crystals (it was on sale), one 750 gallon Koralia circulation and wave pump, a salinity refractometer, and some black background. I know thats not near enough but I'm in no hurry to have this set-up going. The equipment is so varied and expensive I'm taking it one step at a time.

Now the dilemma; do I install an R/O system or do I buy R/O water from the local lfs?
Is it really necessary to start a saltwater set-up with R/O water if your planning on using live rock as a filtration system to cycle the tank which means water changes as necessary? I have read that you want the purest water you can get for a reef tank but I'm unsure if thats what you need to start with being the tank will be getting water changes to keep the parameters in check at the beginning.
I like to Thank Cliff and ILuvMyGoldBarb for the stickies and their Blogs.
It's alot of info which I'm still trying to digest but then again, thats why I'm here.

Consider this, all of the water parameters your salt mix will give you are based on the assumption you will mix it with ro water (near 0 TDS). When you mix salt with water that has a higher TDS, you will not get the same parameters as listed on the salt. The second key thing to remember about using tap water is that when water evaporates from your tank, only pure water evaporates leaving the minerals in the water. Over a period of years, these minerals will build up in your tank and can seriouly mess with your parameters.

If you use RO or tap water can be a personal preferance. I would suggest readin up on the pros and cons and decide for yourself. I will never allow any tap water in any of my marine tanks for any reason, FOWLR or reef. Your live rock can become a sponge for water impurities over time. Below is what I base my personal preferance on:

Also, even if you use ro water with 0 tds, you should still do weekly waterchanges (5 to 10%) to replace trace eliments and help control the water quality.

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

You can also add the DI cartridge later as I know you are at least somewhat handy at DIY projects. Adding a last stage of a DI cartridge is very very easy. Most times you can same money on a RO unit that way. At least I was able to save some cash that way and still get a system that gives me 0 tds water for close to a year before I need to change cartridges

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Thanks for the heads up. As I said, I'm taking it slow so I'll post before each step because those who have already done it have the advice for those of us who are just getting there. I've read more on s/w reef set-ups then I should have, head is spinning. lol.

I appreciate the advice and I'll post my R/O results tomorrow. I just cant see me buying r/o water when I can install my own system. Thanks on the filter replacement info, that comes in handy.

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Well the R/O filtration system is installed, the background is on the tank. I am slowly adding the r/o water to the tank as the unit only puts out 2 gallons per hour or so.
I bought 42 pounds of uncured rock today. Holy cow is that stuff expensive. $8.80 per pound for Bali Live Rock and that was at 20% off.

The rock is still in the Styrofoam container. I will add it after getting the tank salinity right.

Should uncured rock be cleaned? If yes, what do you use to clean it besides picking stuff off it manually.

I would not clean it off at all, you'll be cleaning off the stuff that gives you a ammonia spike to cycle your rock as well as the bacteria your trying to grow.

It might be a good idea to get at least enough mixted salt water in the tank to cover the rocks. The longer it sits outside of salt water, the more die-off of bacteria you will get and the longer your cycle will be. Maybe mix the salt water in 5 gallon buckets and add to the tank once ready

Once your cycle is done, you'll have to clean up any "stuff" that die off and falls off or is loose on the rocks to help control nitrates as that "stuff" is like mulm in a FW tank.

Are going to have sub-strate, or go bare bottom ?

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]

Right now I am mixing some reef salt (reef crystals) with my water in the 55 gallon. I don't have any sub-strate because I read it is easier to clean live rock in a bare bottom tank. I will add sub-strate once the crud has fallen from my live rock.
Thanks for the info on cleaning off the rock Cliff. I too was under the impression that I wanted the rock as is to cycle my tank.
Right now I have the heater warming the tank water as I add it and adding reef salt to keep it close to 1.026. As it gets deep enough to cover my rock I will add the rock from the container. It is still wet as BigAls put some container water in it after weighing it, from their sump.

You don't even need substrate Stider. Unless you are planning to stock something that needs substrate (or you just really like the look of it), I would suggest going with no subtrate at all. With enough live rock, this can make it a whole lot easier to maintain great water parameters once your tank matures.

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]